APRIL 29, 1996

Ligier gets the blame

THE FIA announced details of its investigation into the fire which engulfed Pedro Diniz's Ligier during the Argentine Grand Prix in Buenos Aires recently. It seems that the fire was caused by a preparation mistake with the team's refueling machine - a task which is undertaken by the teams rather than Intertechnique which builds the machines.

We understand that the fire was the result of Ligier's regular man on the job being moved to another task following the defection of the TWR staff to Arrows and the new man not knowing how to do the job properly. The FIA warned that such mistakes will not be tolerated, and any such errors in the future will result in disciplinary action against the team in question.